So I think we should put some effort into improving Super Search. What kinds of features would be good to add?

I'd like to see results sorted by Rep. (Regardless of whether I know the rep, lets not go there again).

I'd also like to be able to search posts by author. (If, for example, I remember that chromatic made a good post about typeglobs that had something I specifically wanted, but I don't remember that it was Re: Validating a Code Reference, and I don't want to go through the listing of his 600 nodes, and everyone talks about typeglobs, so a general search isn't as helpful. This happens more often then you think, although that node is a bad example, because it's easy to find)

I'd like to see results sorted by Rep. (Regardless of whether I know the rep, lets not go there again).

I'd rather see them by (reverse) date, or better yet by
threading (so I'd see the first post to mention the
topic before I'd see the replies to it) if possible.
So it seems to me the same choices that are available when
viewing the one person's postings would be good.
Of course, not all posts have a reputation (like
perlman)--where would these fit into the rep sort?

I'd also like to be able to search posts by author. (If, for example, I remember that chromatic made a good post about typeglobs that had something I
specifically wanted, but I don't remember that it was Re: Validating a Code Reference, and I don't want to go through the listing of his 600 nodes, and
everyone talks about typeglobs, so a general search isn't as helpful. This happens more often then you think, although that node is a bad example,
because it's easy to find)

And I'd rather see that as an option when searching for
nodes by an author...

I'd like to not have all the perlman pages show up so often

As a configurable option. Sometimes that's just what
you're looking for.

Ooh, good ideas. Although I imagine threading would be more difficult since this is coming out of a relational database..

And I'd rather see that as an option when searching for nodes by an author...

Fine by me, although I suspect it'll be the same engine behind it.

I'd like to not have all the perlman pages show up so often As a configurable option. Sometimes that's just what you're looking for.

I meant that as a comment that they show up inexplicably. I had many man pages show up when I looked for running with scissors. Neither "running" nor "scissors" were there. (And I imagine that "with" is in a lot more posts that I got as returns.)

Of course, not all posts have a
reputation (like perlman)--where would these fit into the rep sort?

If they are showing up as a result for good reason (see above), then I'd say they should be ranked first. The Perl man pages are great, as long as they have some relevance to what you seek.

Wow, so there actually is support for such an idea. I raised the issue three months ago at Search Options, but no one replied! Some specifics related to your suggestions:

I'd like to see results sorted by Rep.I'd rather have a set of options for ranking, like post date, rep, hits per page, etc.

I'd also like to be able to search posts by author.A great idea.

I'd like to not have all the perlman pages show up so often.More generally, I'd like to be able to sift out nodes based on what area they were in (with a multi-select fieldmajigger). That way you wouldn't find Running With Scissors when you were looking for "running with scissors".

Doing a Super Search for "running with scissors" returns the
actual starting node as the second match. (a reply by kudra
was the first). You have to add the quotes, however, for the
original post title had quotes, which makes this not a very good
example. Also, a normal search for
running with scissors works with
and without quotes. It looks as though you may have jumped
to Super Search too quickly in this case.

Also, a normal search for running with
scissors works with and without quotes.It looks as though you may have jumped to Super Search too quickly in this case.

That depends on what you are looking for. I was looking for the thread by merlyn, and without quotes, Search took me to Running with Scissors, which is a different node entirely, so I had no choice but to use Super Search (I didn't remember quotes, and I'm not likely to in the future.)

Ada Lovelace for the palindrome
Albert Einstein for having smelly feet
Alfred Nobel for his contribution to battlefield science
Burkhard Heim for providing the missing link between science and mysticism
Claude Shannnon for riding a unicycle at night at MIT
Donald Knuth for being such a great organist
Edward Teller for being the template for Dr. Strangelove
Edwin Hubble for pretending to be a pipe-smoking English gentleman
Erwin Schrödinger for cruelty to cats
Hedy Lamarr for weaponizing pianos
Hugh Everett for immortality, especially for cats
Isaac Newton for his occult studies
Kikunae Ikeda for discovering the secrets of soy sauce
Larry Wall for his website
Louis Camille Maillard for discovering why steaks taste good
Marie Curie for the shiny stuff
Nikola Tesla for the cool cars
Paul Dirac for speaking one word per hour when socializing
Richard Feynman for his bongo skills
Robert Oppenheimer for his in-depth knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita
Rusi P Taleyarkhan for Cold Fusion
Sigmund Freud for his Ménage ā trois
Theodor W Adorno for his contribution to the reception of jazz
Wilhelm Röntgen for the foundations of body scanners
Yulii Borisovich Khariton for the Tsar Bomba
Other (please explain why)